Red Sox

“Hopefully, something comes out of the woodwork soon. I’d love to see where they’re at.”

The Red Sox took care of an important piece of business last week, signing 24-year-old starter Brayan Bello to a six-year contract extension worth $55 million. 

While the Red Sox still have a ways to go before re-establishing themselves as a premier power in MLB, locking down a key building block like Bello and signing him through the start of his free-agent years stands as a prudent move for a team looking to build a new foundation of young talent at Fenway Park.

If the Red Sox want to continue that trend, their next order of business likely involves handing a similar long-term contract to slugging first baseman Triston Casas.

But speaking to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier during the Red Sox’ Dominican Republic Series against the Rays in Santo Domingo, Casas noted that any contract talks with Boston haven’t delved too deep into dollars and cents.  

“We’re just talking right now. Nothing’s set in stone, no numerical values yet,” Casas said. “Hopefully, something comes out of the woodwork soon. I’d love to see where they’re at. But as of right now, no developments. There have been talks in the past but nothing has really accelerated up to now.”

Much like Bello, Casas has the potential to be a featured franchise player for Boston moving forward.

The 24-year-old first baseman finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, slashing .263/.367/.490 with 24 home runs. A slow start for Casas impacted that final stat line, with the 6-foot-5 slugger slashing .317/.417/.617 with 15 homers and 38 RBIs over his final 54 games of the year.

Casas admitted earlier this spring training that he wants to remain in Boston “forever,” but was candid with Speier when evaluating whether or not he has done enough yet at this stage of his career to warrant a hefty pay raise and long-term security.  

“For right now, I think I have a lot of work to do before I feel like I can say I deserve that contract extension to be the long-term first baseman for the Boston Red Sox,” Casas told Speier. “I think the expectation for the first baseman of the Boston Red Sox is elite production. And I didn’t produce that last year in terms of a great first baseman in the game.

“I don’t feel that I’ve earned a contract extension. I don’t feel that I’ve developed that type of game to merit a long-term extension and contract. So if I don’t get that offer, I’m not upset at anybody in the organization. I’m not upset with myself.”

Of course, if Casas builds off of last year’s results and establishes himself as one of the top first basemen in the game, the price will only go up for the Red Sox when it comes to a new extension.

For now, Casas is happy that one of his longtime teammates through Boston’s farm system in Bello now has a new contract in place.

“I’m super excited for him,” Casas said of Bello. “He’s literally just been the same person throughout the whole time, pretty much the same size, same everything — and to see how he’s developed and how he’s handled everything throughout all levels, I’m really happy for him. And to play with him for hopefully the rest of my career is something that I want and I’m excited for.”